News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The state of Washington has changed how school districts are funded, placing greater responsibility on local levies to help the district sustain extracurricular activities, adequate staffing, and improved facilities for our children. A typical voice in support of levies tends to focus on issues such as our aging district infrastructure and non-taxed government lands. Voices against the levies tend to focus on mismanagement, lack of representation, and the perception that property taxes will increase. What none of these issues address is the...
Thanks go to The Star, Jacob Wagner and Scott Hunter for carrying out the school levy survey and printing the results and comments in the January 19, 2022 edition. Voters need to have factual information to help them decide whether to vote “Yes” or ‘No” on the levy. There are a few comments that were included in the article and a related “Letters from our readers” section that I would like to address. Ten years ago, after many years (decades?) of our community communicating the need to replace our three aging and unhealthy schools, Sen. Linda...
I am writing in support of the two upcoming levies for the Grand Coulee Dam School District. As a teacher for the district for 42 years, I have seen how levies have supported and provided opportunities for students and staff. The levies have provided support to the athletic programs, upkeep for our school buildings and provide programs that are available for our students. In supporting our levies, we are supporting and providing for the future of our students. Gary Darnold Retired teacher and coach for GCD School District...
Previously I’d mentioned how much I appreciate The Star seeking input by polling our community about the upcoming school levies. People need to be heard and I’m proud of those who’ve studied the issue and logically responded. Maybe the only real avenue they have. It takes courage to go against the establishment, but I can tell you these folks are not against kids. They see a lack of balance and dysfunction over time. Most of us love our local school district but the elected officials and superintendent are out of touch in many ways. Looki...
This is about places I’ve been that would make my bucket list if I hadn’t. 1 - First would have to be my favorite vacation spot, Grand Teton National Park. Place to stay: Jackson Lake Lodge, on Jackson Lake. It has always been the top spot for moose watching, but it also is a hiker’s paradise. We took a boat across the lake and it dropped us off at a trailhead that wound its way between two of the mountain peaks. We had walked about a mile and when turning a corner in the path we ran into two bull moose that cautiously eyed us as if we shouldn...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District (GCDSD) is seeking voter approval for two separate levies in the upcoming election on February 8, 2022. The intent of my letter is to provide the facts regarding these levies and enable voters to make well-informed voting decisions. The first of these levies is the educational programs and operations levy—commonly referred to as an “enrichment” levy; and the second is the capital levy for safety, technology and facilities improvement, or simply, “capital levy.” Both of these levies have been approved...
In life it is very important to make progress from being fully aware of current reality and learning from the patterns involved. We should always strive to improve and find balance from our mistakes. This is not happening at the highest levels in our school district. There are excessive fiscal requests and repetitive unanimous decisions that are not logical to me. We need servant leadership, a diversity of viewpoints with equity in mind. People need to be valued and heard with genuine collaboration so progressive solutions can be found....
I well remember the feeling when I heard the clang of the prison door at Walla Walla closing behind me. This needs some explanation. When I was with the newspaper in Bothell, I heard of some of the reforms at the state prison at Walla Walla. A call to the prison eventually led to a visit with warden Bobby Rhay. I told him I was interested in pursuing the reforms with a story, particularly the elected prison inmate council. He said if I wanted to come over, I could visit with him about the reforms and also meet with the prisoner council members....
It’s not going away if we accept defeat, it will just keep attacking. Complaining about the unfair, changing “rules” is useless. There are no rules but one: Don’t give up. A good friend who knows better couldn’t help recently expressing that feeling of resentment, which is held by probably everyone who’s been alive over the last two years. No, it isn’t fair, whatever you imagine that might mean in the context of a non-thinking clump of reproducing molecules that can make you or your loved ones sick to death, literally, not just of masking yo...
As a parent of students at our local schools, I plan to support the levies that are coming up on the ballot in the next few weeks. I hope you will too. Generation Z will need to solve a lot of problems over the coming decades. One of them will be how to care for an aging Generation X, and what to do with our old BMX, inline skating, and X Game-wannabe injuries. We all thought we were going to be Dan Cortese or Gabrielle Reece. And for a brief, glorious time . . . we almost were. But at what cost? I mean, there was no real concussion protocol...
Trees of Sharing 2021 culminated Saturday, December 18 with the delivery of wrapped Christmas gifts to 118 children in 54 families. The Trees of sharing Committee thanks every person who supported this project by making a cash donation or purchasing gifts for children who might not have otherwise received one this Christmas. Trees of Sharing extends special appreciation to Spokane Teachers Credit Union, Coulee Family Medicine, Harvest Foods, North Cascades Bank, and Safeway Pharmacy for help with collecting children’s names and/or displaying t...
We have had great luck with neighbors. Thinking back to our earliest days together, and up to the present time, we have always had good neighbors. Just recently, and after our latest snowfall, is a good example of good neighbors. I heard noise from outside and went to the door to look out, and there was Gasry Norris plowing out the end of my driveway. Gary is former owner of H&H Grocery and has a blade on the front of his pickup. Not only was Gary cleaning up our driveway but proceeded to go down the street and do other driveways. At the...
News media can present news about the coronavirus pandemic responsibly, without a constant drumbeat of doom even when it’s not called for. That doesn’t always happen. I call your attention to the editorial cartoon at right. Its author may seek to totally discount the integrity of news coverage on the pandemic, which wouldn’t be fair either, but its message urges us to pay appropriate attention to the good news along the way. That includes important news that often gets buried under the old observation that “if it bleeds, it leads.” Cartoonis...
Long periods of open time have allowed me to get back to my stamp collection. I had a small collection as a child and then put it all behind me until later in life. My collection had been collecting dust until about six months ago when I pulled my albums out and took over the dining room table. The urge came on as I talked with our oldest son, Paul, who has a substantial collection. He was lucky enough to be able to purchase a large collection from a former postmaster. Stamps can be much more than something to lick and drop off at the post offi...
Before we visit the final 2021 weather data for our region, a dryer, warmer year, we will explore the subject of drought — something we’ve been experiencing for several months now. When we study weather events like tornadoes, thunderstorms, or hurricanes, we need to add drought as a weather event as well. What makes drought different is its longevity and its beginning and ending periods. Drought is the near total absence of rainwater for a prolonged period of time. Looking at our pre...
With an infrastructure package on the books and the Biden administration’s $1.8 trillion “Build Back Better” measure preoccupying the Senate after passing the House, government spending is very much on Americans’ minds. In public meetings, I frequently hear people say that government’s share of the economy is too big, and it’s likely that voters’ feelings about federal spending will figure prominently in next year’s elections. If you look ahead, even beyond the current debate on Capitol Hill, there will be intense pressure to expand even furthe...
Christmas is the season of hope and joy, and as we look to the brightening days ahead, it is important we bring that same sense of love and generosity that has filled our hearts and homes over the last few weeks with us into the new year. For those of us who have the privilege of calling Central Washington home, there is much for which we are grateful. We are free to observe holy days as our conscience, not the government, dictates. We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, with bountiful farmland and majestic...
It can be difficult to accept that someone else’s ideas might be valid if they directly conflict with your own experience. That’s where much of our public discussion on very important topics often falters. Going into a new year is a good time to re-assess our own assumptions, especially this year. Too often, certainty stands in the way of understanding. Very smart people, exceptional leaders, the brilliant among us can be certain they’re on the right track. We demand it of them, and sometimes that demand keeps them from serving us well. The f...
With the cold temperatures and winds Okanogan County has been having and will continue to have, it is essential to take precautions, the county’s emergency management team advised in an alert on Tuesday, as temperatures head into the low negative single digits. Here’s their advise on preparing for and living with the cold: On your water: Emergency Management spoke to most of the public works directors of the cities/towns in Okanogan County today assessing whether any damage occurred over the past few days due to the cold temperatures and hig...
Our longest fire camp experience was near Prairie City, Oregon, a 21-day ordeal where our kitchen unit served 1,500 firefighters and support personnel. My wife and I worked a couple of seasons for OK Cascade, a Bothell company owned by the Keener family well known to us. The hourly pay was small, but we often got 50-60 hours of overtime a week. We would get a call from the company and immediately leave for our camp location. The workday started usually at 5 a.m. and ended between 10 and 12 p.m. Our rest break was brief, and we often had to...
When Toyota speaks, car buyers listen. Hopefully, our elected officials will as well. It is one of the world’s two largest auto and truck manufacturers--twice the size of GM, our biggest. Toyota warns the world is far from ready to jettison gasoline and diesel engines and require batteries to run our replacements. For Toyota, it is not just about finding enough critical battery material such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, but it is about having enough electricity in our power grid to recharge them. Specifically, Toyota not only worries about o...
Cheers. This is a festive time of year and I want to cheer on a few who make our community wonderful. First, I want to thank our Raider Cheerleaders. Almost two dozen students turned out and they are rockin’ our athletic events. I would love to have a cup of coffee with the head coach who’s been at the helm for almost four decades. Our local athletic director was voted Athletic Director of the Year and deserves it based on the challenges of the last two years. We are lucky to have him as a leader of two systems and a coach in our school dis...
As a kid, I loved the snow. In Palouse we got a lot of it. When it came down, I knew it was time to get out my Flexible Flier sled. The Fliers were the sleds of all sleds. When there was a good base, we would gather on North Hill and clear the side streets for the best sledding you could ever find. We would station someone, usually a parent, on each side street to divert traffic away from our hill run. The run from the top of North Hill was about 10 blocks, with the end being in the city’s main street. By the time the snow was packed, the r...
A few weeks ago, I was speaking with former Defense Secretary General James Mattis about some of the lessons he’s learned over the years. One of his biggest takeaways? How incredible of a community Central Washington is, and that sometimes it takes leaving to know what you have. As I breathe in the clean, crisp air in Sunnyside this winter morning, I couldn’t agree more. Central Washington truly has it all, from majestic rivers that we’ve harnessed to power our homes to gorgeous national forests and public lands. In our communities, peopl...
I still remember a question I got years ago. It was at a public meeting in southern Indiana, where a young woman commented that I’d traveled throughout the US and wanted to know: What was my impression of Americans? I didn’t even hesitate: The American people are fundamentally decent, I told her. Why even mention this? Because at the moment, we live in a country where a lot of Americans don’t believe it. They think fellow citizens and public officials they don’t agree with are at best misguided and, at worst, evil. I don’t think this happened...